Tonkon Torp attorney Parna Mehrbani is the featured guest on the February 3 episode of the Portland Business Journal’s Thought Leadership Podcast. Her episode dives into trademark options, opportunities, and limitations for companies in the cannabis industry.

Parna touched on a number of legal issues around securing state or federal trademark protection in the cannabis industry, a task that is anything but clear given the evolving contradictions between state and federal classification.

Along with a brief rundown of what a trademark is and how it works, she shared what is and isn’t available for federal trademark registration for cannabis products that contain THC and those that contain CBD. She also shared insight into how a company can use common law trademark rights to protect a brand, and the benefits of pursuing state-level registration.

She emphasized that regardless of trademark registration status, a business should work to act like a legitimate trademark owner and follow such good practices of trademark ownership as: proper trademark usage, enforcing rights with other parties, and protecting rights in contracts with employees and vendors. Finally, she discussed what not to do, such as trying to obtain a trademark without full transparency about cannabis ingredients.